After two years off air, The Apprentice is back for series 16, with 16 new candidates stepping into the boardroom. And, there's still more to come, with Lord Sugar hoping to get the BBC One show to 20 series, and then some.

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Speaking ahead of the launch, the entrepreneur revealed he has "no plans" to quit the series, following speculation that it could be coming to an end after the 20th year.

"First of all, I publicly stated that I really wanted to make it to 20 years. So this one is 16 and I've got four more to do to achieve that goal," he told press including RadioTimes.com.

Joking that he'll keep going for as long as physically possible, he added: "I've already worked out the final task in one of the series is to arrange my funeral, to see how well they'd arrange it and what kind of coffin they will get for me."

He added: "I'm not going nowhere, and the programme's going nowhere. Please enjoy this current series, which I'm sure you will, but I can assure you there's going to be a lot more. While I've got health and strength in my body, I will carry on!"

Series 16 will start on BBC One on Thursday 6th January, and will see The Apprentice 2022 cast competing in a series of challenges in a bid to impress Lord Sugar, Karren Brady, and former Apprentice winner Tim Campbell, who stands in for Claude Littner for the new series.

So, what can we expect from the upcoming episodes?

"You can look forward to a few fireworks from me and some wonderful contributions from Karren and Tim," Lord Sugar added.

Addressing how COVID-19 impacted on filming, he added: "The challenge of doing this thing through COVID, we just took it in our stride. And in a funny way, some great things came out of it.

"So we've got a lot of good stuff to look to look forward to. It's a great series. We're all absolutely 100 per cent delighted to be back. And you know when you're away for a couple of years, like we were, you get into the swing of things very quickly."

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The Apprentice series 16 will begin on 6th January 2022. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.

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